BEIJING -- China's central bank drained liquidity from the banking system through open market operations on Tuesday.

The People's Bank of China injected 50 billion yuan ($7.6 billion) into the market through seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.2 percent, according to a statement on its website.

With 120 billion yuan of reverse repos maturing on the same day, this led to a net liquidity withdrawal of 70 billion yuan from the market.

A reverse repo is a process in which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

China pursues a prudent monetary policy in a more flexible and appropriate way, according to this year's government work report.